Mamata Banerjee Denounces Eviction Drives Against Hawkers

Mamata Banerjee criticizes the BJP government for eviction actions against street vendors in West Bengal, highlighting their vital role in the local economy and calling for structured integration instead of displacement.

Trinamool Congress chief and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday condemned the state BJP government over its alleged eviction drives against street vendors, saying she was ''astonished, angry and deeply pained'' at the treatment meted out to hawkers.

In a post on X on International Hawkers Day (May 26), Banerjee said, ''The BJP government had unleashed atrocities on hawkers shortly after coming to power, demolishing their stalls and forcing them onto the streets without regard for their distress.''.

''Those who oppress will certainly face the consequences. I was, am, and will always stand by you,'' Banerjee wrote, addressing the hawker community.

The TMC chief noted that International Hawkers Day is dedicated to recognising the contribution of street vendors, hawkers and small traders of the informal sector, who serve as the backbone of local economies.

Banerjee referred to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, passed to protect hawkers from arbitrary eviction, and cited a series of Supreme Court judgments recognising their constitutional right to livelihood under Articles 19(1)(g) and 21.

She argued that the goal of a well-planned city should be to integrate hawkers into the urban system through structured municipal markets, not to evict them.